Montreal Bagels
Montréal is a very multicultural city, and its food scene was built largely by immigrants.
Eastern Europeans who settled in Montréal brought their culinary customs and the biggest contribution to the city’s gastronomic identity – smoked meat and bagels!
The bagels was introduced to Montréal in 1900, and there’s so much history regarding “who” was the first one to introduce it and how it came about. Historians cite Chaime (Hyman) Seligman as the one to first introduce the Montréal bagel, where he sold them out for a carriage then established a bakery, Saint-Laurent Boulevard, in 1900.
Regardless of who it was, we’re glad to have such an amazing legacy in Montreal! Unlike the New York bagels, Montréal bagels are golden and crunchy on the outside and soft, chewy and sweet on the inside. You don’t need to top them with anything, really. They’re just THAT good on their own!
Ingredients:
600 g (4 ½ cup) bread flour
310 g (1 ½ cup) warm water
85 g (¼ cup) honey
7 g (2 ½ teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
45 g (3 tablespoons) canola oil
1 cup sesame seeds
Optional: ½ cup pumpkin seeds
For boiling:
4 liters (14-16 cups) water
170 g (½ cup) honey
Directions:
In a bowl– add flour and salt and mix well.
In a separate bowl, add warm water, honey, oil, and yeast.
When the yeast blooms, incorporate the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
Add the egg to the bowl.
Knead in a stand mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, until a dough forms.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, you may knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand.
Coat with oil and cover the bowl and leave to proof for an hour, or until it doubles in size.
After it’s done proofing, it’s time to shape the bagels!
There are two ways to shape bagels:
The traditional way:
Roll a piece of dough into a long log then grab the edge of the dough with your thumb and roll the dough around the palm of your hand. Separate the dough from the rest of the log and roll it against the table to close the edges.
The non-traditional way:
Divide the dough into equal pieces and roll them against the table.
Slowly insert your fingers in the middle and make a hole. Expand the bagel by rolling the dough between your two fingers.
Boiling the bagels:
Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).
In a pot, boil water and add ½ cup or 170 g of honey.
Boil the bagels for 1 ½ - 2 minutes on each side.
Roll the bagels when they’re damp into toppings of your choice - I coated mine with sesame and pumpkin seeds.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Bon appétit!
